NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM

ABCs OF
CHILDHOOD
VACCINES

Immunization
NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM

RISKS OF NOT
VACCINATING

Immunization
RISKS OF NOT VACCINATING

Terms To Remember

• Hib: Short for Haemophilus influenzae type b,

Hib is a bacterial infection that usually strikes
children under 5 and is a cause of infection of the
blood, brain, lungs, throat, bones, and joints.

• Meningitis: A serious infection of the surface of

the brain and spinal cord, leading to mental
retardation, deafness, and even death

• Polio: A viral disease that may lead to paralysis

and death

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Vaccination Works!
Measles
• Let’s look at the history of measles.

1958-1962: Over a half a

million cases of measles are
reported each year. 432 Measles vaccine
measles-related deaths occur is licensed.
on average each year.

By 2000, only 81
cases are reported
in all of the U.S.!

1958 1962 1963 2000

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Vaccination Works!
Hib Meningitis
• Consider the history of Hib meningitis.
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease usually
strikes children under 5 years of age.
• Hib can cause blood poisoning or meningitis.

First Hib vaccine

1985 and before: An estimated is licensed.
20,000 children develop Hib
every year, with 600 deaths. Fewer than 10 Hib
deaths are reported.

1985 and before 1985 1998

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Vaccination Works!
Polio
• Polio, caused by a virus, was once America’s
most feared disease, causing death or
paralysis. Its most famous victim was
President Franklin Roosevelt.
1951-1954: Paralytic
polio strikes nearly
20,000 Americans
every year, killing Today there are no reports
nearly 1,900. of polio in the United
States, but the disease still
First polio vaccine exists in some parts of the
is licensed. world.

1951 1954 1955 TODAY

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Some Diseases Are So Rare, Why Keep Immunizing?

• Whooping cough, chickenpox, and other diseases still exist in

the United States, causing serious illness and even death.
• When children aren’t immunized, diseases can return.

In Great Britain, people In Japan similar events

stopped immunizing for
pertussis (whooping cough)
in the early 70s. Within just a
few years, a pertussis
epidemic occurred—100,000
cases with 36 deaths.
occurred: a decline in
childhood pertussis
vaccinations during the 70s,
was followed by a pertussis
epidemic—13,000 cases,
41 deaths—in 1979.
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A Disease Is More Than An Illness.

• Sick children are kept out of school. A child

with chickenpox, for example, can miss one or
more weeks of school.
• A child with a vaccine-preventable disease
can experience physical pain, discomfort,
trauma, long-term disabilities, or even death
from an illness that could have been
prevented with a vaccine.
• A sick child can also infect parents, sisters,
brothers, other family members, friends, and
classmates too!

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A Disease Is More Than An Illness.

• A sick child with a prolonged illness can

impact a family’s financial resources.
Parents must be there to care for a child,
meaning loss of pay or use of vacation time.

• Sickness drains other financial resources.

For example, for every dollar invested in the
Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis (DTaP)
vaccine, the United States saves $27 in
costs such as work-loss, death, and
disability.

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Key Facts

• Measles, Hib and polio are diseases that used to

kill or handicap many young children. All have
been controlled with vaccination.
• But when vaccination rates fall, epidemics can
occur, because disease-causing viruses and
bacteria still exist in nature.
• Immunizing protects the health of children and the
emotional and financial well-being of their families
and communities.
• Immunizing also protects the health of children
who cannot be vaccinated, such as children with
immune deficiencies or weakened immune
systems due to medical treatments like
chemotherapy.

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Additional Resources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website:

www.cdc.gov. Click “Vaccines & Immunizations,” then click “NIP Home
Page” in the right column or go directly to www.cdc.gov/nip
• National Immunization Hotline: 1-800-232-2522
• Parent’s Guide to Childhood Immunization: Publication available
online at www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/
• For information on vaccine testing and licensing: www.fda.gov
• For information about local health care resources: www.naccho.gov or
look under “public health” in the blue pages of your local phone book
• For information on children’s health insurance: www.insurekidsnow.gov
• Additional ABCs of Childhood Vaccines slide shows cover the following
topics: Vaccine Safety; How Vaccines Work; Natural Immunity; Primary
Vaccinations

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